Of Monsters And Men
by MortiferSB
Summary: What makes a monster?
1. Chapter 1

Harry Grey, known as Pyre to most people, sent a jet of flames at Anarchy.

The villain simply stared at the flames. As always, his power took effect, deflecting the stream into the sky.

Pyre cursed under his breath. Anarchy's other power was getting to him. He had to stay calm, before he started a bushfire or something.

Anarchy grinned, and Pyre fought down a surge of anger.

The villain walked forward, and Pyre fell back.

Pyre was almost certainly the worst possible Parahuman to fight Anarchy. The villain's deflection field didn't seem to be controllable, and Pyre needed to actually be on fire to use his power. Even if the hero avoided attacking Anarchy- No easy task, considering his emotional aura- The villain could just get close to Pyre and deflect the fire that covered him.

If Anarchy acted any differently, Pyre wouldn't fight him at all. The problem was, Anarchy didn't seem to have any sane goals. Every time he was encountered, he just attacked anyone he came across, then disappeared. Fights with heroes seemed to satisfy him more, and Pyre himself seemed to be the villain's favourite opponent.

Pyre crouched as the villain came closer, feigning exhaustion. As he did so, he picked up a small rock, and hoped that Anarchy wouldn't notice.

Then, he stood up, and fired a jet of flames into the air, above Anarchy.

The villain stopped, the flames momentarily blocking his view, but not going into his field. As such, he did not notice the thrown rock until it was too late to stop it.

The rock hit Anarchy in the nose, and blood started pouring out.

The villain, rather then screaming vengeance or attacking himself, merely grinned.

Pyre felt his anger rising again.

He hit the bastard, something that was extremely hard to do, and all it did was amuse him?

Then Anarchy did something unexpected.

"Catch me if you can."

He ran towards the city. Cursing, Pyre ran after him.

* * *

Kate Blackstone was happy.

Her family sat around the table, eating dinner. Her mother had made lasagne. Her father wanted to have a barbeque, but he had been outvoted.

It was Friday, meaning that Kate could just stay at home and read for a few days. Most other eleven year olds would be out playing on the weekend, but Kate didn't see the appeal. The fact that no-one was willing to spend time with her for any more then necessary didn't have anything to do with it.

Kate's father was talking about Parahumans again. He did that a lot. Right now, he was talking about the new gang, The Sapiens, who had an Anti-Parahuman policy. Apparently, some former Rogues had joined the other gang in the town, The Convicts, in an attempt to get more protection from them.

Her mother worked for the Keepers, the Australian equivalent to the King's Men or Protectorate. Technically, the Keepers referred to the actual Parahumans, with her mother working for the non-Parahuman government branch that monitored them, but everyone just referred to the whole lot as 'Keepers' for convenience. As such, her mother was able to keep her father informed about Parahuman news, without letting rumors come across as facts, as the media sometimes did. Kate's mother sometimes joked that this was the only reason that he married her.

The conversation on Parahumans quickly changed to Kate's father lamenting the lack of barbeque. Apparently, he had even set everything up before being outvoted, with the gas bottle and spatula and everything else. Kate really didn't care very much.

It didn't matter, really.

* * *

Jacob Finn, also known as Anarchy, ran.

Every few metre's, he'd turn around, making sure that Pyre was following him.

The flaming hero took this as a challenge, from the looks of things.

Good. Makes things fun.

Anarchy smiled, and quickly checked the time.

Another minute or so, before he makes his grand escape.

Briefly, he reached up and touched the blood coming out of his nose.

It hurt. But that didn't matter. Pain was good. It was the whole reason he did this, after all.

Quickly, he turned back to Pyre, and stopped running. The hero quickly caught up to him, and sent a jet of flame.

Anarchy effortlessly deflected the attack, and drew a matchbox from his pocket.

Time to get out of here.

Lighting a match while Pyre couldn't see him, Anarchy threw it against a nearby wooden wall.

Once the fire started burning, Anarchy stepped to the side, out of Pyre's flame.

Just need to wait a bit, and keep running around here...

* * *

The fire burnt the wood, spreading quickly.

No-one saw it at first. Everyone had hidden in their homes when they found out about the battle between Parahumans, and fire alarms going off while Pyre was around was nothing new. So no-one knew about the burning until it was too late.

By the time the fire was noticed, it had already spread to five houses. People rushed to put it out. But too slow...

In the fifth house, the fire went unnoticed, eventually reaching a bottle of propane gas.

The explosion that came shortly afterwards, on the other hand, was very noticeable.

* * *

Slowly, Kate opened her eyes.

It hurt.

What... What had happened? One minute, her family was standing near the back door, warily watching the chase outside, prepared to run. The next...

Everything was on fire. Glass was on the floor, after being blown out. The door, and most of the wall, was missing.

Outside stood a burning man.

A hero. Pyre.

He watched the fire in shock, and horror. Then...

A laugh sounded through the town.

A villain. Anarchy.

The laughing villain stepped into her line of sight, and gave a mocking salute, before running away.

With a scream of hatred and rage, Pyre chased after him.

...What?

No... Why was he leaving? She needed help, they needed...

Wait, where were her parents?

They were...

She looked behind her.

Her parents laid on the ground, covered in blood.

They weren't breathing.

* * *

Pyre snarled as he chased after Anarchy.

People had been hurt. He had seen the blood. Anarchy had deflected his fire, and now...

...It was his fault. Pyre had done this.

The least he could do was make sure that Anarchy _paid _for this.

The villain seemed surprised by Pyre's single-minded desire to hunt him down, but took it in his stride.

Anarchy kept running, jumping a fence into someone's backyard. Pyre leapt after him, an-

_Destination.  
Agreement._

-d fell, hitting the ground, face first.

Anarchy had stumbled, but was able to recover and keep running before Pyre was able to get up.

Pyre stood, and prepared to chase the villain. However, his attention was drawn away by the sounds of a fire truck approaching.

The realisation his Pyre like a ton of bricks.

The fire.

People were still in there, and he had left them to chase after Anarchy.

Pyre could have screamed, but he didn't have time for that.

Quickly, he turned, and ran for the fire.

* * *

Kate stood outside the burning building, blood dripping off her chin.

She stared at her hands.

She was a Parahuman. She had seen her parents dying, and as a result...

She could heal now. Moved faster then before, too. And...

She wiped the blood of her chin, and put it through her lips again.

The blood. After... Something... She had looked at the blood covering her parents, and felt the urge to consume it.

And now she had... Well...

Two ghostly apparitions formed behind her.

She could make copies of them. They looked like her parents, at least.

But they weren't them. They were just empty shells.

Her parents were dead.

The apparitions vanished as a fire truck arrived.

People who had come to help. After the hero had walked away, and left them for dead.

She couldn't let them know.

She had powers, and her parents were dead. They might make her join the Keepers, and be a hero alongside _him_.

No.

She wouldn't do that.

Her parents had died. Someone had to pay for that.

The villain had been their, his fight had caused this. But the Pyre was supposed to be a hero, he was supposed to help people.

She closed her hands into a fist, then turned and walked away.

She was going to find them. Get them alone.

And then she was going to kill them.


	2. Chapter 2

Victoria Brown knocked on the door.

There was no reply.

"I know you're in there, Harry." She said. "I'm coming in."

She opened the door slowly, and walked in.

Harry Grey was sitting on a bench, resting his head on his hands. He was wearing his Pyre costume, with the mask lying on the bench next to him.

"Hey boss." He muttered, as she walked in.

"'You look horrible." Noted Victoria.

"I _feel _horrible." He responded. "I... I fucked up. People_ died_ because I _fucked up!_"

He almost shouted the last part.

"It's not you're fault." Said Victoria. "We all know what Anarchy's power is like."

"_I _knew." Said Harry. "And I still let it get to me."

Victoria sighed. For as long as she'd been put in charge of the Keepers of Rowan, Harry had been like this. Quick to blame himself for everything that went wrong.

Saying things like 'It's not your fault' wasn't going to work. Harry needed something else to think about.

"I've requested a Kill Order on Anarchy." Victoria said. Harry looked up, surprised. "It might take a few days for the higher ups to process it, but..."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Confirmed the Director "Once it gets authorised, I'm going to call in some backup from nearby towns, wait until he goes on another rampage, then hammer him until something gets through his defence power and finishes him."

Harry blinked at this. "Really? I haven't been involved with a Kill Order before, but... It can't really be that easy, can it?"

"Well, it depends on what's going on when the Kill Order gets approved. But there's not really anything big going on- Unless an Endbringer hits Brisbane or something, we should be able to get enough force to put Anarchy down."

Harry nodded. "Sounds... Good. He won't be able to hurt anyone else."

Victoria nodded, then checked her watch.

"Alright, I have to go." She said. "I have paperwork to do, and if I keep talking to you, I'll have to sleep in the office again."

Harry smiled. "I'll see you later then, boss."

"Later." Replied Victoria, before she turned and left.

Maybe now, Harry will stop moping for a bit. He probably wasn't going to forgive himself for this incident, but if he could forget for a bit, he could be happy for a while.

* * *

The battle between Pyre and Anarchy was all over the news. Several houses had burnt down, with two dead and a third, a young girl, missing.

Anarchy had gotten away again, police attempts to look for the girl were stalled slightly by The Sapiens, the Anti-Parahuman gang, and blah blah blah.

Marvin Kessler put the paper down. Same old, same old.

Other then the thing about the missing girl, there was nothing of note in the paper. Anarchy doing his thing and getting away, police being useless, the media playing the blame game...

Marvin got up, deciding to go for a walk, and think about something else.

Marvin grabbed a coat as he walked out of his apartment.

Everyone who lived in the motel knew that the place was owned by The Convicts. Several important gang members, including Marvin himself, lived in it. Because of that, people who lived here and weren't part of the gang tried to be good neighbours- They didn't want to bring the wrath of the Convicts down upon them.

As Marvin walked out, he waved to the receptionist. She was in on the whole secret, and knew the identity of all the Parahumans in the building as well.

"Be back soon, Mister Kessler." Called the receptionist. "Your boss want's to have a meeting at Two O'clock."

Marvin checked his watch. One Fifteen. He should have enough time.

Marvin took his usual route for a walk. Turning right after exiting the motel, left at the start of the shops, left agai-

A flicker of movement passed through the corner of his eye, and Marvin looked behind him.

Nothing.

Marvin frowned. He looked around for a bit, looking right, left, up-

There it is.

A young girl was sneaking across the roofs of the buildings, good enough that Marvin would have missed her, if he wasn't looking for something.

Then, in a burst of speed, she ran and jumped onto another roof.

...That shouldn't be possible for someone her age. Hell, most grown men wouldn't be able to do that.

She's Parahuman.

Marvin considered the conclusion he had reached, before noting another fact: The Sapiens usually operated in the part of town she was heading into.

A Parahuman was heading towards the location of an Anti-Parahuman gang, who wouldn't hesitate to leave her half-dead in a ditch somewhere.

Cursing his morality, he set out after the girl.

* * *

Alistair watched as the girl leapt from one rooftop to another.

"Parahuman?" Asked Justin.

"Probably." Replied Tom. "Should we get rid of her, Alistair?"

All three men were members of the Sapiens. Alistair himself was a rather important member, highly respected by the gang.

"Let's check her out." He said. "Tom, you hang back. If she _is _Parahuman, record anything you notice about her power."

Tom nodded, pulling out his phone. Jim and Alistair began walking toward the roof where the girl was hiding, Tom following a distance behind.

The girl jumped a few buildings as they drew close, but eventually, they managed to catch up with her, in a building by a alley.

"Girl!" Called Jim. "Get down here!"

There was no reply. Alistair growled.

"Fine then." He said, picking up a few rock and throwing them onto the roof.

There was the sound of rocks hitting the roof, before the girl cried out.

A second later, she ran into view, and jumped off the roof.

"What was that for?" She demanded.

"You weren't responding." Replied Alistair. "And we wanted to know why a _Parahuman _was in this part of town."

The girl glared. "I can do what I want."

Jim walked forward. "Your kind aren't welcome here."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, or we'll make you."

The girl apparently decided that talking was pointless, and punched Jim in stomach. He fell backwards, and the girl kicked him in the face as he fell.

Alistair ran forward at the girl, grabbing a knife out of his pocket.

The girl moved her shoulder back a bit, telegraphing her punch. Alistair stepped to the side of the punch, and grabbed the girl's arm. Her eyes widened in surprise, and Alistair pulled. As the girl jerked forward, he grabbed her collar, and threw her over his shoulder.

As the girl hit the ground, Alistair twisted her arm back, pulled her into an arm lock.

The girl cried out in pain, and Alistair grinned, positioning his knife at her throat.

The two remained in that position for a while. The girl tried to pull away, but Alistair pressed the knife closer to her throat. It was tempted, oh so tempting, to push it in and let her bleed out.

Eventually, the girl spoke. "Let me go."

Alistair laughed. "Now, why should I do that?"

"For starters," Said a familiar voice from behind him. "It would be a shame if something happened to your pal here."

Alistair turned his head, to confirm that he was talking to who he thought he was talking to.

Canine. The Parahuman from the Convicts, who turned into a wolf. He was in human form, and wasn't wearing a mask, but he held Jim in a strangle hold, and the Parahuman's head was hidden behind Jim's.

Alistair ground his teeth together. Annoying.

Then, he stood up, letting go of the girl and moving the knife.

Canine let go of Jim, turning his head away from Alistair as he did so.

Jim was still dazed from when the girl had hit him. Alistair groaned.

"Get out of here." He snapped at the two capes. "If I see you around here again, I'm not going to be so merciful."

Putting his arm around Jim to support him, Alistair turned and walked away.

* * *

Marvin looked at the girl. The girl rubbed her arm, where Alistair had grabbed her.

It took a moment before Marvin recognised her. Kate Blackstone. The girl who had gone missing in the fire. And she'd Triggered, too.

That explained a few things.

"What were you thinking?" Marvin asked. Kate looked at him, confused.

"This is Sapiens territory. You were doing things that shouldn't be physically possible for your age, being obviously Parahuman. You may as well have painted a bullseye on your back and insulted their parents."

Kate flinched at the word 'Parents,' and Marvin cursed internally. The girl had _just _lost her parents, he should have expected her to react poorly.

...On the other hand, she wasn't as bad as she should be. Someone her age, loosing her family? She should be curled up in a ball, crying. Not running across rooftops and fighting gangs.

"And why aren't you at a police station or something?" Asked Marvin, trying to change the subject. "People are looking for you."

"I... Don't want to be found." Replied Kate.

Marvin opened his mouth to ask why, before thinking again. If she was going to tell him, she would have.

Although that raised a question...

"If you don't want to be found, where are you staying?" He asked.

The girl blinked in confusion, unsure. "Erm... I don't know..."

So, she didn't have anywhere to go.

Marvin took a second to remember how his life was, before he got his powers. Homeless, jobless, going without food and never having somewhere safe to sleep.

He barely managed to get through every day back then. A girl her age? Not a chance.

Maybe he could to talk his boss about letting her have a room in the motel? People would leave her alone there.

He opened his mouth to suggest this, before remembering where they were. "I might have somewhere for you to stay." He began. "But we should really discuss this somewhere else. You know, where we don't have to worry about being attacked by Anti-Parahuman gangsters."

Kate thought on this for a moment, unconciously rubbing her arm again. "That... Might be smart." She turned to jump back onto the building.

"Hold on." Interrupted Marvin. "You're going to be seen again doing that. I saw you, they saw you... Who knows who else would see you. You said you didn't want to be found, so..." He made a motion with his hand.

"Do you have any suggestions, then?" Asked Kate, looking annoyed.

Marvin reached a hand into his pocket, and pulled out a phone. "I could get someone to pick us up. You don't have to worry about anyone finding out- I'm one of the Convicts. Anyone I call up will have less reason to go to the police then you do."

Kate thought on that for a moment. "Fine then."

Marvin dialed a number, then waited for the reciever to pick up.

It only took a second. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jonas." Said Marvin. "I need a favour..."


	3. Chapter 3

The car arrived abut five minutes after her helper finished his call.

Kate momentarily considered not going into the car. She had always been told not to trust strangers.

But... She didn't have much choice. It was either this, or be found by someone else. More gang members, or the police, either option was bad for her.

Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

It only took a second for her and her saviour to board the blue vehicle, both getting into the back seats.

The driver, a heavily-muscles, dark-skinned man, turned his head back at them. "Hey Marvin. You're place, right?"

The man- Marvin, Kate realised- Nodded. "That would be good."

The driver nodded, and focused on steering the vehicle.

Kate looked out the window, feeling uncomfortable... And a bit confused.

Why was he helping her? She didn't even know this Marvin person, yet he was offering to find her somewhere to stay?

Earlier, Kate would have just assumed that he was acting out of sincere kindness.

Earlier, Kate hadn't seen a Hero leaving her parents to die in a burning building.

He had to have a motive. She wasn't going to trust in people being inherently good anymore.

Maybe he wanted to recruit her into the gang? He did mention being a member, earlier.

Kate was jolted out of her thoughts by the car coming to a stop.

"Here you go." Said the driver.

"Thanks, Jonas." Replied Marvin. "I owe you one."

Marvin got out of the car. Kate hesitated a moment, then did the same.

Looking around, Kate noticed Marvin looking at his watch. Biting his lip, he turned to Kate.

"I've got a meeting soon." He said. "Come on, I'll show you my apartment, and you can watch television or something until I finish up. Shouldn't take too long, so we can talk after I get back."

Kate nodded. Annoying, but she could wait.

* * *

Everyone was present, noticed Marvin.

Edward Foster, known as Bunyip, was resting his head on his hands, propping his elbows up on the table.

To his right was Jack Shackle. Jack wasn't an active participant in the Cape scene, and so hadn't picked a Cape Name. Jack's job was mainly to train members of the Convicts how to fight, to defend themselves. Something that many members of the gang were grateful for.

Marvin took his seat to the left of Edward, and looked across the table.

Sitting opposite to Marvin was Sophie Mackenzie, who managed any illegally gained funds that fell into Convict possession, and Shaun Newman, who ran a black market for weapons and drugs.

At the head of the table sat Jim O'Sullivan, leader of the Convicts.

Jim looked at the group from behind his thick-framed glasses. "A lot has happened recently, hasn't it?" He noted.

There was a murmur of agreement from the participants of the meeting.

Jack spoke up. "Anarchy may have crossed the line." He said. "Property damage is nothing new to him, but taking lives? As a distraction? I doubt that the Keepers will let this one go."

Edward nodded in agreement. "There's also the fact that no-one's seen the girl, Katherine or something, since then. The two adults were found dead, but there daughter is still missing. For all we know, Anarchy kidnapped her."

Marvin coughed, slightly embarrassed. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Er... Actually... I might have found her, a few minutes ago."

There was silence at the table.

"She Triggered in the fight or something." Marvin explained. "I noticed her heading towards Sapiens territory. I... Helped her out a bit, when their heavy hitter found her. She said she didn't want to be found, so she's at my apartment right now."

The boss smiled slightly. "Her power?"

"I dunno." Said Marvin. "She was running across rooftops when I saw her, and jumping _off _the roof didn't hurt her, so I'm going to guess she's a Brute."

Jim stroked his chin, deep in thought. "After this is over," He began. "I want you to talk to her, find out what she wants. If you feel that it's something that I would want to know about, email me afterwards."

Marvin nodded, and Jim leaned back on his chair.

"Anything else?"

Shaun spoke up. "The Sapiens have been pushing me for more weapons recently." He said. "I've been delaying their requests and giving them low-quality goods, but they're taking everything they know about. I think they're planning something."

Sophie spoke up. "Maybe you should search for more information?"

Jim shook his head. "No, we shouldn't risk them finding out that Shaun isn't as impartial in these conflicts as he claims."

"May I speak, sir?" Asked Jack. Jim waved his hand, gesturing for him to go on.

"The chances are, Anarchy's latest stunt has moved him to the top of the Sapiens hit list. We've been rather quiet recently. The last big stunt we pulled was when Edward and his brother led a raid on a warehouse a week ago. Even if they were planning on hitting us, Anarchy has proven to be more disruptive."

Jim nodded. "And so we can risk taking time to gathering information." He concluded. "Very well then. Sophie, try offering some bribes to our usual leaks, try and see if they know anything. Shaun, get some of my men and hoax an accident for your next shipment, use it as an excuse to raise prices. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

There was silence, and Jim stood up. "Very well then. If anything important pops up before I request our next meeting, just send me a message. Until then, we're done here."

* * *

Kate was sitting on Marvin's couch when he got home, watching the television.

Surprisingly, the girl was watching the news. Another retelling of the incident, in which her parents were killed. Marvin had thought that she would want to avoid that.

Even stranger was her reaction. Normally, Marvin would expect someone her age to be in tears at the reminder of the deaths. Kate, on the other hand, was glaring at the screen, almost as if trying to kill the reporter with her glare.

Marvin cleared his throat, and Kate turned to him.

"Is there a problem?" He asked.

Kate simply pointed at the screen.

"Lies." She hissed. "They're saying that Pyre didn't get to my parents in time. They're implying that _he even tried!"_

Marvin blinked. "Er... Pardon, could you explain?"

"He _looked at the building!_" She was almost screaming now, tears starting to flow from his eyes. "He _turned _and _left!_ Mum and Dad are _dead_ because _he left them!_"

Oh.

Well, that explained a lot. She didn't want to go to the authorities because she blamed a government-sanctioned hero for her parents deaths.

The girl tried to say something else, but whatever it was, it wasn't comprehensible. After a moment, her ranting became sobbing, and she fell to her knees.

It was all catching up to her now. The fact that she was never going to see her parents again, she knew, but it had taken all this time for her to truly understand.

Marvin crouched beside the girl, and patted her back awkwardly. "Don't worry." He said. "It'll be alright."

"I-It's his f-fault." The girl stammered out. "I... I'm going to _kill him_ for this."

...She was exaggerating. At least, Marvin hoped she was. It would be... Difficult... Otherwise.

He didn't say anything, though. For now, he just let her cry.

* * *

"Again." Said Harry.

Melody, the team Tinker, nodded, pressing a button. A punching bag fell from the ceiling, and Harry got to work.

The punching bag was attached to a rail on the roof, and a program, written by Melody, meant that it would move away from anything that tried to hit it.

Harry's first punch was met with empty air, and his kick just barely missed the bag, as it swung with the sudden movement.

Undeterred, Harry activated his power, burning up, and set a jet of flame. Again, the flame met nothing, as the bag jerked to the side.

This went on for some time, as Harry repeatedly attempted to hit or torch the bag, only for it to move before he could do so.

Eventually, after a few minutes, Harry drew a Taser from his belt. Punching with the hand holding the Taser, Harry waited until the bag pulled back, then fired.

The Taser hit the bag, which slowly retracted back into the ceiling. Harry deactivated his power, putting out his flame, and began panting heavily.

"Time?" He asked after a moment.

"Three minutes, twenty seconds." Replied Melody.

Harry let out a frustrated groan. "Not fast enough. Again."

Melody hesitated, "Are you sure?" She asked. "Maybe you should take a brea-"

"No." Said Harry. "No breaks. Not until I beat three minutes. Again."

"Harry, you're going to hurt yourse-"

"I don't care." Harry interrupted. "I need to be ready for when Anarchy's Kill Order comes in. And as my _fuck up_ shows, I'm not anywhere near ready."

Melody sighed. "You won't be the only one fighting when we go after him."

"But what of he finds us first?" Harry asked. "It's his usual MO. He usually attacks when someone's isolated. I need to be able to hold my own, to fight him, in case-"

"That won't happen." Interrupted Melody. "Stop acting like we're going to let you go off by yourself again, Harry. If you're on patrol, you'll have people with you."

"Bu-"

"No buts. You're not going to be fight Anarchy at_ all_ if you hurt yourself and end up in hospital."

Harry paused, then let out a frustrated sigh. "You're right. I hate it when you make sense."

He wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "I'll stop for a bit, I guess." He said, before walking for the door.

"Harry!" Called Melody. The hero turned to the Tinker, and she threw a water bottle at him.

Harry caught the bottle, and took a quick drink.

"Thanks." He said, once he had finished.

Melody smiled, and Harry left.


End file.
